Sharing & Wearing Flowers for Women's Pelvic Health

July 5, 2012

Women & Sex: Don’t Settle for Dysfunction

For as much as our culture is said to be overly-sexualized, with media content, advertising and common language listed as evidence, there sadly remains a lack of genuine dialogue on some real aspects of sex. Women and men are fed lines about how to be sexy, both in their overall appearance and in the bedroom – wear this, shave this, no wait…don’t shave it, don’t wear this, talk this way, drive this car – blah, blah, blah. But sex is a physical act – and sometimes (lots of times) there are physical problems that get in the way of desire. For example, pelvic pain in women is estimated to be as common as lower back pain and asthma. For many, sex is also a deeply emotional experience meaning that for those who don’t feel connected to their partners on an emotional level, that connectedness on a physical level for sex is a low priority. One study lumped many of these things together – pain, low libido, lack of arousal, lack of ability to orgasm – into the catch-all “diagnosis” of Female Sexual Dysfunction and cited a prevalence of over 40%.

First, contrary to what many people made of these findings, the term “sexual dysfunction” is not equivalent to “sexual disease.” Female Sexual Dysfunction may not be an ideal term, but it gives us a reference point for dealing with issues that negatively affect female sexuality, a cluster of issues that obviously affect large numbers of women. It shows us that the incidence of some negative issue affecting women’s sex lives is far more common that anyone admits, and should open a door for us to learn and talk about each of these individual and collective issues. Because no matter what we call it, improving sex lives of women is going to be an undisputedly favorable outcome for all!

Get more info on normal female sexual response and an overview of some elements of female sexual dysfunction over at our website ShareMayFlowers.org.